By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits surged to a two-month high last week, but that likely did not mark a material shift in labor market conditions as the rise was related to school spring breaks in New York state. Nonetheless, the labor market is softening, with […]
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US weekly jobless claims jump to two-month high
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By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits surged to a two-month high last week, but that likely did not mark a material shift in labor market conditions as the rise was related to school spring breaks in New York state.
Nonetheless, the labor market is softening, with the report from the Labor Department on Thursday also showing unemployment rolls swelled to levels last seen nearly 3-1/2 years ago.
Businesses in general have mostly adopted a wait-and-see attitude to President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy, and are retaining their workforces, while remaining cautious about adding headcount.
“While part of it appears to be related to the difficulty of seasonally adjusting the data during school spring breaks and the Easter and Passover holidays, especially in New York state, it is troubling that the nation’s unemployment rolls have shot up, reflecting the difficulties the jobless have in finding new work,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ended April 26, the highest level since February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 224,000 claims for the latest week.
Unadjusted claims rose 12,901 to 223,614 last week. They were lifted by a surge of 15,525 in filings in New York state. Claims in Massachusetts shot up 3,251, helping to more than offset notable declines in Connecticut and Missouri.
The economy contracted last quarter for the first time in three years, swamped by a flood of imports as businesses tried to avoid duties from the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Economists expect the tariffs to result in a wave of job losses. Expected to be a drag on domestic demand, the tariffs already are prompting some companies to reduce staff. United Parcel Service said on Tuesday it would slash 20,000 jobs and shut 73 facilities as part of a planned reduction in deliveries for Amazon.com.
“While the labor market is far from recessionary territory, it could turn if other companies follow UPS’ suit and start trimming payrolls,” said Andrew Stettner, director of economy and jobs at the Century Foundation.
U.S. stocks opened higher. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasuries were mixed.
The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, soared 83,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.916 million during the week ending April 19, the highest level since November 2021, the claims report showed.
The claims data have no bearing on April’s employment report, scheduled for release on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 130,000 jobs last month after rising by 228,000 in March, a Reuters survey of economists showed. The unemployment rate is forecast to be unchanged at 4.2%.
“We expect firms have already started slowing their hiring, and we expect to see news of that in tomorrow’s payroll employment report,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)